5 Life-Giving Truths From Years of Living with Less

“The process of living seems to consist in coming to realize truths so ancient and simple that, if stated, they sound like barren platitudes.” –C.S. Lewis

Memorial Day weekend, years ago, I got my life back.

I’ve relived the scene a thousand times. I woke up with a simple job to do: clean out the garage. It was not a project out of the ordinary. In fact, I did it every spring. But on this particular Saturday, for the first time, I’d be introduced to the truth that I didn’t have to.

Our lives were typical: work hard, make money, spend it on mortgage payments, fashionable clothes, nicer cars, cooler technology, and more toys for the kids. But when everything from my garage was piled high in the driveway while my son sat alone in the backyard, it was a conversation with my 80-year old neighbor that opened my mind to a new way of thinking. She said it like this, “Maybe you don’t need to own all this stuff?”

And a minimalist was born. In that moment, I made a life-changing realization: Everything I owned had not brought meaning, purpose, fulfillment, or lasting joy into my life. In fact, not only were my possessions not bringing me joy, they were actually distracting me from it. We immediately began pursuing a more minimalist lifestyle by removing the unnecessary possessions from our home and lives.

This journey towards minimalism has been far more life-changing and life-giving than I expected. The possessions in our lives define who we are on a far deeper level than we realize. And as a result, the process of removing them teaches us valuable truths about ourselves and the lives we live.

As I consider the years and all that I have learned, the following life-giving truths reveal themselves as the most significant:

1. Desiring less is even more valuable than owning less. Owning less brings some amazingly-practical benefits into our lives. It costs less. It requires less time and energy to maintain. It brings freedom, rest, peace, and calm into a hectic world. And it provides greater opportunity to pursue our truest passions. But I have found, over the years, the desire to own less is even more valuable than owning less.

Over time, I have been able to remove myself from the incessant desire for more–even in a society that idolizes consumerism at every turn. And when our life’s desire shifts away from pursuing physical possessions, we are finally free to pursue lasting worth with all our heart.

2. Allow the journey towards less inward. Dropping off a handful of clothing at Goodwill is not hard. Dropping off a full van load of unused possessions is not even that difficult. But pulling up to the Goodwill drop-off for the fourth time with a van load of completely unnecessary possessions initiates a lot of soul-searching. The journey toward minimalism runs through the heart and soul.

Correctly pursued, it forces us to ask some hard questions in deep places about our most intimate motivations in life. Why did I buy all these clothes? Why did I buy a house with rooms we never use? Why do I still flip through the ads every Sunday even though I own so much already? Why am I still envious of my neighbor’s stuff? These are hard questions to ask with no easy answers. But the darkest truth is that unfortunately, far too many people, will never even ask them.

3. The potential of minimalism lies in the addition, not the subtraction. Minimalism is not the goal. Minimalism is, after all, less about the things you remove and more about the things you add. The potential of minimalism lies in what you choose to pursue with your life in place of material possessions.

4. Minimalism will always vary. I live with 33 articles of clothing. But Leo Babauta lives without a toaster, microwave, or paper towels. Sarah Wilson does the same. And Daniel Suelo lives without money. I am very thankful for Leo, Sarah, Daniel, and Mukund because I am inspired by those who own less. They cause me to reevaluate my presumptions and strive towards even greater intentionality. But I have long since removed the comparisons.

I am called to live a different life than them. I have different values, different passions, and different pursuits. As a result, my minimalism is always going to look different. Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it. And by definition, this means minimalism will always look different.

5. We can change lives. We can change the world. I sat behind a computer screen years ago and started this blog with just a few keystrokes. It was to be nothing more than an on-line journal of my journey towards minimalism. But along the way, something unexpected happened. People started reading. And found new life because of it.

The inspiration continues to grow… both through this blog and in my life. This is a far better way to live than most people realize. It is available to anyone who hears the message of living with less and chooses to accept it with their whole lives. May the invitation to minimalism continue to change lives. And ultimately, the world. This is my hope.

Thank you so much for reading and supporting Becoming Minimalist. There are still exciting days ahead.

Comments

I started my minamalist (finally have a “title” for what I’ve always been) realisation last year… I consider myself a ‘natural’ minimalist, from as far as I can recall I was always clearing out, moving out, giving away what I did not need, want or use, much to my parents dismay and annoyance, never wantingly taking part of the 2 monthly shopping/replacing and ‘treating’ quests they would take us on. Living in South Afiica its all about more, stock piling and greedily/corruptly getting ahead, guard what you have and want, secure your future before its taken from you by a greedier opportunist or someone just trying to feed his family. Thank you for being an inspiration to a reality that promoted an appreciation for less, that focuses on life experiance and not posessions. A lifestyle that naturally, mentally, physically and financially focuses on a better attainable and sustainable reality. Finally I belong… #Be a YOU not a WHAT! Thank you!

Fantastic article! I have been striving to follow your lead since seeing you and your wife at a talk in Gretna, Ne.
I am happy to say the layers of my onion are peeling off consistently . I am growing, and giving, experiencing and engaging more❤️
I purchased a small home and I am only taking what I LOVE with me!
Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom.
Nikki

Wow! I am 64. I sat on plane this summer next to a young guy. (28?) I thought we had nothing in common. Didn’t talk to him at first. Stayed in my comfort zone. Didn’t think he wanted to talk to an “old lady”——Twenty minutes before landing in Chicago we started talking. We were both teachers. Good. We both cared about Planet. We both were committed to Zero-trash movement. Since then we have been messaging on FB off and on. He recently told me he was a “Minimalist” . I was going in that direction BUT without a focus, a definition. Now I get it. Thank you Greg. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity. Thoreau said it long time ago, Now it means even more. And thanks to Greg who opened my eyes. I am not there yet, but working on it. <3

I started being more minimalist last summer, and it felt great to get rid of a lot of things I didn’t need. But eventually I had to minimize my time spent minimizing, because I couldn’t even get dressed in the morning without evaluating my closet to see if there was anything new I was ready to get rid of. I was even more focused on stuff than before I went minimalist. Now I just sort through things a few times a year, try to not buy new things unless I need them, otherwise I just am trying to enjoy life and not beat myself up over the box or two that are still in my closet.

I think this is the downside to minimalism…spending an inane amount of time trying to determine how to live with less in order for your life to be more fruitful when all of this over-analyzing about what you need and don’t need is actually making your life less enjoyable and fruitful. So for me it’s really about finding a balance…not owning too much stuff but also not trying to get by on very little either. Because both ends of the spectrum, (living with too much by choice or living with too little by choice) in my opinion, are equally as stressful.

Brilliantly put definitely to be balanced. I’m reading this as I have just come back off holiday and had a very hectic family weekend been reading the chimp paradox and sorting my life out I am ready to become minimalistic to be stress free. I might struggle as my husband is not yet ready

I am trying to do exactly the same thing. I became so obsessed with living minimalistically that I actually gave away things that I need. I am now trying to spend less time getting rid of things and less time accumulating new things.

Living a minimalist lifestyle doesn’t mean going without but being more considerate with our buying power and not supporting large retail empires unnecessarily. It’s about carefully considering the options open to us and learning that we don’t need the rubbish that is thrust upon us. After six miserable years of working in the retail sector I learnt the futility of it all, and the importance of also not supporting those organisations that exploit those workers at the lower end of the ladder. I watched the misery of people relentlessly buying what they more than likely didn’t need or could afford. I have been working towards a minimalist lifestyle for about a year now and felt reassuringly enlightened when shedding possessions I didn’t need, I have to admit it is quite liberating.

Love it. Crazy thing is, I never knew anything about being a minimalist let alone knew what it meant. I came across the word today and started reading up on it and after reading this article about it…..I realized that this is why I’m different then a lot of ppl my age that I know or associate with in my life. Definitely gonna continue reading up on it. I’m glad I came across this article.

I like heat/AC, standing up without bumping my head, showering with warm water, flushing instead of composting, holsom properly cooked food, good light to see by, healthy teeth, and body, bed and pillow. I have lived without all of these, it can be done. But “moderation in all things” is the simple key. Do I need a photo album? A dog? A car to get to my job? Do they enrich or spare me? Or do they drain me? A sparse tiny house, has worked for me since 2002 and I’m loving it.

I agree. In june this year, I moved into a much smaller house. 624 sq feet. My down sizing starting in 2014. I have made others folks happy by giving away furniture and other things. I am a fan of the tiny house movement but did want a single story home as I am 67. I just naturally am choosy about purchases. I cook and eat at home and love fresh produce. I have a parakeet as my house mate. I also paid off credit cards, a small loan and got rid of cable. This gave me the house payment. Where I live you have to have a car. I am now more aware of my daily blessings.

It’s funny….whenever I have inner turmoil and lack peace in my heart, or trying to let go of someone or something not meant for me, one of my first instincts and thoughts is this: I’m going to go through everything in this house, closet, basement, and try to fill as many bags as possible, and resist the temptation of “well, maybe I’ll need this for something.” And when I physically discard or give away those “things” it’s a spiritual and emotional cleansing of the soul as well. Very healing for the soul to act on the letting go. It’s not by chance I came across your articles. They have been uplifting and inspiring in so many ways. I’m ready to take on this challenge. I believe with all my heart there is truth and goodness on the other side of this “cleanse”…..thank you and God bless you for being a vessel, and allowing yourself to be used to help so many find their truth.

I’m 45 years old and over the years have dealt with a fair amount of trauma. Childhood and domestic abuse. To deal with the aftermath I started spending money on clothes, home decor, makeup. Luckily I never went into debt. The more clutter I have, the more stress and anxiety I’m feel. I visited someone’s home one day that was free of clutter. I had an instant feeling of relaxation. They knew where every single item was located, made their lives easier, and cleaning was simplified. I would love to have that feeling of peacefulness, have items that are truly meaningful in my life, and get rid of the rest. I’m starting this journey soon :)

I think Minimalism term implies in person specific manner. We all have been through different cultures, value systems, material possessions in our lives and above all we’ve different natural tendencies and instincts. But Minimalism seems to be a key concept like others that can take us to higher levels of spirituality…

I started, unknowingly, around the start of the year a life of simplification. I began working with a life coach to balance my work/family life and had no idea where the journey would lead. It has been painful and healing and freeing. Someone said to me probably 10 years ago that I should live simply so others could simply live and it literally caused physical pain because I was so attached to the “American way” of working to buy more! Now, I get it. Our oldest is going to college next year and my soul aches for him to take the life of simplicity with him. We are a work in progress…I have purged and purged our home from top to bottom. But, we still live in a very large home. I am ready for the change but there are 6 of us and I am somewhat alone in my “radical” thinking BUT they are all watching me very closely! I believe our time is coming to greatly downsize. Thank you so much for your words of encouragement! I have read every word of every comment here! I have learned from all of you.

My goal for 2017 is less and less. I watched my parents home be torn up after they passed and everything they had was given away. I came to a realization, we take nothing with us and leave a burden for those who must divide our possessions that were never used always put away for someday.

The last move did it. I retired about a decade ago from the Navy and quit my last job after deciding to live on my pension. Money is tight now, and so I did a lot of the packing myself only to realize during and after the move, it would have been easier and less costly had I spent time before moving to get rid of unnecessary stuff. I have accumulated a lot of stuff. I’m now slowly getting rid of stuff by selling it on eBay, varagesale, clothing consignment shop, giving it away, and donating it to Goodwill. Reflecting, I realized that I had to let go of stuff that no longer fit my changed lifestyle or my age. I find I experience some sadness when going through the evening gowns I never wore to the Hospital Corps, Navy or Marine Corps balls. I will probably never wear them so there is no need to keep them any longer. I struggle with deciding to sell the ski outfits that I haven’t used in close to two decades or the bowling ball, shoes, or golf clubs. I’m not quite sure whether I will use them one day or not. This paring down is taking more time and energy than I thought it would but it is worth it because I do feel happier and less weighed down when I see the progress I’ve made so far. It is a lifestyle change of letting go of stuff to allow room for other things.

What started as a major minimalist purge as a New Years resolution at the start of this year has evolved into a challenging and insightful experience…yes! Not only am I accomplishing the creation of a clutter free, zen-like habitat at home but I am truly learning awareness of my habits and the corrections I need to make my life more fulfilling. To date I have a new, wonderful person in my life, finally called off some toxic relationships, learned where and why I spend money excessivly and am seeing the true value of my good relationships with friends and family. Consumerism begone in 2017!!! 2016 has been a very insightful and more positive year for me with lots of hard work separating myself from what really doesn’t work or fulfill my desires and true needs. Minimalism is a mindset, not a tangible thing and I plan to continue with it for the rest of my life in any areas that need improvements.

I am so appreciative of all the information on your site and abroad on the Internet to keep me going when I felt stuck. I am a big believer that “true change begins within” and hope that others are finding themselves capable and courageous enough to make similar changes by simplifying and putting focus where it is due.
It’s now December 2016 and there is so much to be thankful for!

To be continued… in my minimalism, my 2017 New Years resolutions fall into the saving money because I don’t need new things category and using my extra time to assist others in whatever capacities are needed.

Courage and enjoyment to all who are embracing this movement of finding gratitude and contentment in life.

We have tried to live on less for the last 5 years…We are a familly of 4, 2 adults 2 kids.
We moved to a bigger city and live on less income. 200K to 85K. We have had more fun in the last 5 years but we ultimately the adults are no happier with or without…
1. Desiring less is even more valuable than owning less. –We have definately owned less, lived in less space, travelled way more and desire less things…
2. Allow the journey towards less inward. –We donated, gave away more than 2/3 of our items, volunteer more, developed a few more friendships and help the unfortunate more often.
3. The potential of minimalism lies in the addition, not the subtraction- We have spent more time with family, in our community and belonging to parenting groups, exploring self interests and the interests of our children…
4. Minimalism will always vary–Yes, we live simply but there are many more who love way more simply and those who live more lavishly, it’s what the individual family chooses and practices…
5. We can change lives–Yes, I have been able to see the transistion of people who become more productive, happier and healthier through my work….Are my children happier yes… Are the people who my husband help through the volunteering help benifit.. Yes…

But… what Minimalist living, does not address…
1. The group happiness vs the individual happiness… Take for example… My stay at home husband is more unhappy than ever. Yes he has more meaning, more friends, but he also has more stress, more worry and feels more helpless than before… There is only so much he can do, so much he can contribute and the children…We love them, yet we can only do so much for them….Are children are so much happier, the family may be ok as a group, the community may benifit but some individual may still suffer and sacrifice themselves for the benifit of the greater goood…
2. Experience vs Time–Some experiences cost a lot of money, for example being a tourist vs being a volunteer tourist. For example do you know that sometimes although people mean well, They are creating more problems for people when they do volunteering in a foreign country. They can only help for a short period of time, and people have to correct their mistakes, ethically, it may not be for the greater good and although the individual may feel better for the short time, the people living there, still have to live their lives as they are…
3. Doing the right thing??–Values and ethics greatly differ… For example… A Christian may think that going into a muslim village may be helping them, but do they respect the values and culture of that particular village…. Do they think their right is better than others….
4. No black and white– It is impossible to be entirely non-judgemental, dialetical… The buddist try but does really being a monk appeal to most…. Just like Capatalist creates jobs, they also cause undue hardships to others by taking advantage of the vulnerable…. There is no such thing as fairness or just…..Yet we are trying to strive for this…
5. Meaning—The meaning of life for each individual or group changes over time, context and environment. I may be helping to recycle and reduce in the moment, but am I taking more time out of my life to do something else that may be more meaningful to another individual or can I do something else that can contribute more such as growing plans, contributing, what is a piority at this time….

Being minimal is not about how much money you make, how big your house is, or how many possessions you have. It is about removing or reducing the meaningless and replacing it with the meaningful. What is meaningful is individual; unique to each individual and varies among members of a family. If you look for balance and peace, the decisions about money, possessions, and charity (including how much of your life is about volunteering) will follow. Just as when flying you are instructed in case of an emergency, to first place your own air mask and then your child’s, you must take care of yourself in order to take care of others.

You are a very wise individual, my views come from more of a stoic place. I am not hard hearted but I definitely feel more as one with my spirituality being interconnected with nature as one. The views in life we take on while living as minimalists are remarkable and it gives me great comfort knowing that there are others out there who hold these values. As the future relies on our gentle souls to create a better future for a healthier meaningful society we as a whole could potentially become.

This is a beautiful post. I love the part about spreading gratitude. That is something that I had to work hard on in my life. I struggled with finding meaning in my life but thankfully, I got some advice and direction from a self-help book. I have been struggling with personal issues for 10 years and have found reaching out online to seek the advice of others has helped me through the good and bad time. I had a ton of issues with my midlife crisis and have started to follow the advice of Dr. Robi Ludwig. I saw her on a tv show once and I really appreciated her take on current psychological issues. She has written two books but my favorite book is Your Best Age is Now. I have read it and loved it! I highly recommend it to anyone out there struggling with dealing with midlife. I got hit hard during my 40’s and this book really helped me to become a better version of myself.

I grew up with a mother that deinitely was a minimalist and got rid of everything she didn’t need anymore, the woman never sold anything to anybody but for some reason always found people in need to give the stuff and in some way or another always people help her when she needed, I think she got back what she gave away, not worth money but with goid deeds… and now she’s 80 years old and even though I have a long way to go to become what I was taught growing up I remember the feeling of not having to take care of things and finding where to put it. I married into a family of pack rats and when I couldn’t fight them anymore a I feel as if I joined them. It has been a rough journey but I’m trying to do it. I was unhapoy, I was struggling with a lot the acquiring of things became an escape but in reality I got trapped into buying needless things that just made matters worse. I want to be someone that doesn’t have the heaviness of owning uneeded junk on her shoulders… your messages are inspiring me more and more and I hope that I can look around my surroundings in a few months and feel free of that burden. Thanks.

A short note of thanks for your brilliantly lucid, well-written and succinct blogs. I have been enjoying your posts for a couple of months now, and they really inspired me to live a more minimalist lifestyle. Thank you!!

Thank you for your inspiring articles. I have cleaned out the closets several times over and donate what is worth reselling. It has caused me to make changes in consumerism. My struggle is Papercrafting. There is always one more stamp or ink pad or notion that I want. It is a work in progress. I am a work in progress. Thank you!

Loved this article. I am a college student and living at home. living a minimalistic lifestyle has brought less stress to my busy life and peace. All my belongings can fit in a large container, and of course all my books in another. But, living a life where all I really own can fit where my mom probably fits her summer shoes, is amazing to me!

Love the articles and comments. as i get older i realize the enslaving nature of “advanced “civilization. A recent National Geographic aerial view of a typical neighborhood in suburban America showed a 3 car garage overflowing with stuff so the vehicles were outside. A dumpster at the curb overflowing with discarded necessities. a backyard full of plastic Walmart toys. And a new SUV on payments with the hatch open ,again bringing the newest and latest home to be used and discarded again. Our past experience of living simply in a third world country required no trash pickup, no landfills, and very little waste. let’s get back to the basics. Which is why we have designed and patented a power source seperate from any grid and saves us $$$$$$$$$. WE need more who think outside the box.

I’ve been remodeling every closet in my new (1927) house this past month. In doing so, I’ve been face to face with all of my “stuff” that is usually behind a closet door. Walking around it, moving it from here to there during the remodel, etc. I cannot help but wonder why I need to own all these things that I so rarely use. Reading this article today, I am inspired to shift into living with less. It feels like the natural next step.